


His Lead

by Persephone



Series: Definition of Love [3]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Military, Romantic Friendship, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-09
Updated: 2011-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:04:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persephone/pseuds/Persephone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick finally asks the right questions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Lead

Dick’s light was on when Nix looked up. He was on his way back from Colonel Sink’s party at Regimental HQ, which Dick had left less than an hour in, after everyone had had a chance to finally meet General Taylor and his staff from Division.

He tapped the driver’s shoulder and told him to pull over and drop him off in front of 2d Battalion’s HQ. It was an opulent hotel at the foot of a mountain range, whose top floor comprised mainly of suites, one of which was Dick’s.

It was way too late for Dick to be up, so he got out, leaving Harry peering in bewilderment at him from the back seat. He jerked his thumb up at the window and Harry looked up, needing a little time to understand what he was supposed to be looking at. Then he nodded and grinned. The driver put the jeep in gear and took off.

He knocked lightly on Dick’s door, but got no answer. He turned the knob and entered the room.

It was dim, the small lamp on the nightstand the only light left on. After calling out to Dick and still getting no reply, he closed the door behind him and strode to the bed.

Dick was fast asleep, flat on his back with his legs spread and his hands folded neatly on his stomach. He stared at him, then moved around to the other side of the bed and clicked off the lamp.

Then he realized he couldn’t see a damn thing to get back to the door.

“Great,” he muttered, clicking the light back on.

It came on brighter than it had seemed a moment ago. He heard Dick’s intake of breath as he came awake.

“Hey, Lew,” Dick whispered without opening his eyes. “How was the party?”

“It was good. You should have stuck around. Strayer got plastered and pasted one on a general from Division.”

Dick’s eyes flew open. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. No one saw it coming either.”

Dick started chortling quietly, a thing which sometimes happened when he was trying to laugh.

He moved and sat at the foot of the bed, setting his canteen in his lap.

“Strayer got as good as he gave, however,” he went on. “That general was a tough old bird. Foley and Christenson broke up the fight but not before taking a couple of pretty good licks themselves. I think I saw them dumping gas out of Strayer’s car as I left.”

Dick was nearly in tears at this point, howling softly at the ceiling. He watched as Dick wiped his eyes, sighing, “Oh, man.”

“Craziest thing I ever saw,” he agreed, smiling at the memory. Then he raised his canteen in salute and stood up. “I should let you get back to sleep. You probably need to get up at some horrifying hour to do whatever it is you people do at that time of day.”

Dick rolled his eyes, smiling drowsily. “Turn off the light and get in here, Nix.”

He stopped his movements, and after a moment’s hesitation emptied the contents of his canteen down his throat. He set the canteen on the nightstand and clicked off the light.

Feeling his way around the edge of the bed to the other side, he sat down and unlaced and kicked off his boots. He swung his legs on the bed.

Once he was on his back, he realized he was far too sober for this.

He could hear Dick’s breathing settling once more. Dick was falling back asleep.

But it wouldn’t take much to wake him up. And he would definitely wake right up if his best friend started making a pass at him.

Clearly, Dick was open for it, what with Roe and all. So all he had to do was roll onto his side and put his hand on top of Dick’s. Then simply lean over and kiss him on the mouth.

He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a sharp breath.

After he kissed him, Dick would respond by kissing him back. While Dick was doing that, he would slide his leg between Dick’s and slip his hands into his hair and caress him. Just like with a girl.

Dick would then wrap his arms around him and pull him closer. And they would go from there.

Nothing to it.

After a minute he rolled onto his side away from Dick and pulled his knees up, burying his hand between them. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

*****

A few days later he and Dick were standing on the balcony of Dick’s room, watching 1st platoon return from their stay up at the mountain lodge. It was 2d Platoon’s turn for some rest and relaxation and they watched the men amble up the trail as the sun set behind the mountains.

He sighted Roe walking with Heffron and one of Easy’s other medics, Spina, and cast a glance at Dick. Dick was watching the trio with a pensive look on his face before lowering his gaze to the balcony railing.

He looked away and focused on the purple sky to the east.

“They’re predicting rain for the Fourth,” he said.

“Huh. So much for Colonel Sink’s Fourth of July bash.”

“Well, you know, he could always have it on the fifth.”

“He could.”

“Wouldn’t have much of a ring to it, though. Sink on the Sixth, however, might work.”

“It’s certainly catchy,” Dick said absently. Then Dick straightened and turned to him, resting his hip on the railing.

“When were you going to tell me?”

He missed only a beat. Dick could have been talking about anything in the world, but not with that tone.

“Tell you what?” he asked evenly.

“You know precisely what, Nix.”

“Can’t say I do, Dick,” he said, laughing but losing his breath too fast. “Wonder how we won a war communicating like this.”

“Were you going to wait until after we got back to the States? Is it why you made me the job offer?”

His head was swimming, and the balcony with it. It was unreal to finally be having this conversation with Dick.

“I’m not admitting I know what you’re talking about,” he replied, “but the answer is no. I made you the job offer for its own sake.”

“So when were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what, Dick?” He glanced over to find Dick gazing steadily at him. “Quit looking at me like that.”

“Well, it’s a good thing Eugene has more guts than you do.”

He slowly turned his head and stared at his friend. “What?”

“He’s the one who told me.”

He blinked at Dick. “But he had no right to do that.”

“Maybe he felt he owed you one.”

He pressed his lips tightly and looked back at the mountains. “It doesn’t matter anyway since I have no idea what this conversation is even about.”

“What I want to know is why you didn’t tell me,” Dick said, as if he hadn’t spoken. “How could you not tell me, Lew?”

“Just purely in theory,” he replied, “your question does raise the curious problem of when it’s okay to hear something like that from your best friend. I’m guessing not in the middle of a war.”

“The war’s over.”

He pushed back from the railing. “That’s not the point!”

He turned on his heel and strode for the bedroom door, halfway to it before spinning around and returning to the balcony entrance. He gripped the door frame and leaned out.

“He’s goddamned right he owes me one! And it was not his goddamned problem to go sharing! And not that it’s the point or anything here, Dick, but how in the goddamned hell could you _not know!_ ”

“You mean after all the times you gave me some kind of indication?”

Focused up til then on tracing patterns on the railing, Dick now stopped and looked up.

They stared at each other.

He dropped his hands and backed out of the doorway and walked out of the room.

He found Harry downstairs in the hotel restaurant and spent the rest of the night getting good and plastered.

*****

Dick was sitting on his balcony after having left Sink’s Six of July party. It was still early, but he usually left when everyone started drinking and before there was no one left to carry on a normal conversation with.

There was a knock on his door and he called for whoever it was to enter. Nix came in and without looking in his direction took a seat in one of the iron chairs by the balcony’s entrance.

“I must be out of my mind coming back here.”

“You thought we’d never lay eyes on each other again?”

“And even crazier trying to do this sober.” Nix reached into his jacket.

“You’re not going to need that, Lew.”

“I actually might, Dick, depending on what your next words are.”

“My next words are that I think as long as we were in combat, you could have written it out on the side of a C-47 and I still wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Great.”

He narrowed his eyes at the back of Nix’s head. “Would you like me to finish?”

“By all means.”

“You probably don’t deserve to hear this now that you’re being a baby about it. But the truth is, I’ve never cared as much for another human being the way I care about you. And now that the war is over the thought of us being separated makes me sick to my stomach.”

Nix’s hand fell from inside his jacket. He turned in his chair and stared at him. “I think you just said something I’m not quite sure I understand.”

“Sure you do.”

Nix kept staring at him, his face the picture of hope and anxiety.

He stood up and strode past Nix. “Come here,” he said, entering the bedroom. “I want to show you something.”

Nix stood up and followed him.

“Close the curtains behind you,” he said over his shoulder.

Nix shut the doors and pulled shut the curtains, clicking on the lights. Then he stood there and watched as he walked around the bed to the other side and turned back the covers.

The white bedsheet underneath the blankets gleamed in an inviting triangle.

“Get in,” he said.

For a moment Nix just stared at the bed, his lips pursed. Then he looked up at him. “You have to know what this looks like from my end, don't you?”

He smirked a little. “Like it’s not your bedtime?”

“For starters.”

He shook his head, feeling a smile pull on his mouth. He went back around to where Nix stood and reached for him. Nix held up a hand and took a quick step backward.

“Whoa. Dick. What’re you doing?”

He squinted at Nix. “Lew, are you serious? I think it’s fairly obvious what I’m doing.”

“Yeah,” Nix said loudly. “I’ll say.”

He watched Nix’s pulse racing at the base of his throat.

“Nix, what is it?”

Nix took another step away from him and sat down hard on the bed.

“Dick, don’t get me wrong here, I’ve thought of the two of us together lots of times…a _whole_ lot, actually. But thinking about it and the reality of it are two different things entirely.” Nix pushed his hand through his hair, messing it up badly. “I mean, what we’re about to do here, this is pretty serious stuff. You’re my best friend, for Christ’s sake. It’s kind of complicated.”

He stepped up and inserted himself between Nix’s knees. “It’s not, actually,” he said, placing his hand on Nix’s chest.

He shoved gently and Nix grabbed his wrist with both hands, and for a moment neither of them gave an inch. Then Nix slowly started falling backward.

“Dick,” Nix said in desperation. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“You’ve never been with a man.”

Nix blinked, by now flat on his back. “How’d you know?”

“It’s the only explanation for why we’re still talking.”

He laid down beside Nix and began unbuttoning his jacket from the bottom up, staring curiously at him.

“What exactly were you picturing when you thought of us together?”

Nix was staring at the ceiling, a look of fright on his face. He swallowed. “Kissing mostly, I think.”

He smiled. “We could do that.”

Nix’s tongue slipped out, the tip touching his lip. He was breathing shallowly. “I need a drink.”

He got Nix’s jacket open, pulling up his white undershirt and bringing his mouth to his stomach. Nix yelped and shuddered.

He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at Nix. “Quit it, Lew.”

“I wasn’t expecting it to tickle.”

“You’re being way too self-conscious.”

“I told you, I need a drink.”

He sighed, then pulled himself up on his elbow and settled on his side.

“All right,” he said softly, placing a hand on Nix’s stomach. He trailed his fingers back and forth across Nix’s skin, dipping his fingertips into his navel. “Go on and have your drink.”

Nix was breathing too hard to answer. He had a look of transported wonder on his face. He kept it up, circling his thumb in ever smaller circles until it slipped into Nix’s navel. Nix’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, his mouth falling open in a silent gasp.

“Good, huh?” he whispered.

Nix nodded.

He stretched his fingers until he skimmed the top of Nix’s waistband, moaning under his breath when his fingers slipped in and Nix’s hips came off the bed. He pushed his hand the rest of the way in.

Nix stopped breathing altogether, his knees pulling up and his legs spreading. He closed his hand over Nix’s cock and squeezed, looking down as Nix frantically unbuttoned his pants and pushed his own hand in. Nix clutched at his hand and he laced their fingers together as he squeezed. Nix’s face flooded with color.

He felt his own face heating up as he lowered his head, pressing a kiss to Nix’s cheek, then his mouth. He slowly rubbed his mouth over Nix’s lips, breathing softly as Nix breathed hard.

He slid out his tongue, skimming it across Nix’s lips to part them, but Nix didn’t respond. He tried it again and still got nothing.

“For Pete’s sake, Lew. Can't you tell what I’m trying to do? Don’t just lie there.”

“You’ve got your hand down my pants, Dick,” Nix whimpered. “I think I’m doing pretty good considering.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, then lowered himself instead to Nix’s body.

He pushed the T-shirt out of the way and kissed Nix’s nipple, nipping it with his teeth before gently tugging. Nix writhed under him, grabbing him by the arms as he closed his mouth around it, flicking it with his tongue until he felt it beading. He gasped as Nix gasped, a wave of hot pleasure flooding him.

Nix grabbed his head with trembling hands, gasping softly as he sucked him. “More,” Nix gasped. “More.”

He moved to the other side, pressing his mouth to the warm skin he could hardly believe he was touching.

Nix pulled back his head, pulling him by his hair and sliding under him.

“On my mouth,” he whispered.

He slid up Nix’s body, settling between his legs and pushing them part with his knee. Their mouths fused as Nix frantically mumbled something into his. But he swallowed it and kissed him deeper, sucking his tongue, sliding his under it.

He searched for the dip at the tip of Nix’s cock, stroking it when he found it, groaning as Nix stretched tightly under him. He went on kissing him, rubbing him, squeezing his tip, until they were both gasping for air.

Suddenly desperate, he pulled his hand from Nix’s inside pants and buried both his hands in Nix’s hair, holding him still as he kissed him deeper.

Nix yanked on his shirt, pulling it up past his torso and wildly running his hands all over his body. His cock jerked as Nix’s trembling fingers grazed his nipples, tearing a groan from him.

It made Nix reach up and lock his arms around him, lifting his head and suddenly kissing him back with such intensity that the feel of his mouth burned everything else away.

He gripped Nix’s hip and began thrusting, scrambling to unbuckle their pants and push them past their hips. In seconds they were both naked enough and he gripped the edge of the mattress, shoving as hard as he could manage without coming.

“Oh God,” Nix groaned, his voice barely above a croak. Then he started moving helplessly, leaving him to struggle to get a hand underneath him from behind.

He pressed a finger in and squeezed his eyes shut, shuddering as Nix went wild, arching and bucking under him. Then he began to spurt.

“Dick, Dick!” Nix cried in surprise, gripping him so hard it was hurting.

He heard Nix say his name like that and started coming. They held each other shuddering, panting as the sensations passed, flowed away.

He slowly regained consciousness to the sound of his harsh breathing.

He opened his eyes to find his face plastered against Nix’s neck, Nix’s bear hug on him still tight.

“Lew,” he whispered when he caught his breath. He rubbed his forehead against Nix’s damp skin. “Why the heck weren’t you going to tell me?”

Nix was silent for a few moments, his breathing leveling.

“I don’t know, Dick,” he eventually said softly. “Maybe I just got used to waiting for your lead.”

“Some lead it would have been when it was time to go our separate ways and I started stammering like a lovesick GI’s girl.”

Nix started laughing. It was a wonderful sound.

“Did you just say lovesick?”

“Yeah,” he whispered, tenderly kissing his neck. “Love. Sick.”

“Well, we can’t have that, now, can we?” Nix asked as he turned, without being prompted, and started kissing him back.

~*~

_End_


End file.
